An eerie sense of calm came over Mason when Logan pulled the truck up in front of Alena's house. His rage and grief over what Titus had done to Grace and his baby had formed a white-hot ball inside him, but instead of exploding out of him, it settled deep down in his belly. Titus was going to die by his hand, and there was no hesitation inside him about the rightness of it. Grace had lived with nightmares for years and tonight those nightmares would end. When Grace had told him what Titus had done to her, it had woken the need for vengeance inside him. Now that they were here, that need was stronger and soon it would be fed and sated.

Mason got out of the truck and strode up the front steps of the neat little house that sat at the end of East Brook's tiny village. He pounded on the front door as he heard the truck door close behind him. A woman answered the door, and she quickly stepped out of the house and shut the door firmly behind her. Her eyes shifted to Logan as his boots hit the steps behind them, and then back to Mason.

“Well isn’t this an honor. Cold Bay’s alpha and his lieutenant. What can I do for you?” If Elena was nervous, she was hiding it very well. If they didn’t know any better they would swear that she had nothing to hide, but the way her body was blocking access to the door told a story of its own. Mason was willing to bet money that Titus was inside, and the urge to shove her aside so he could charge after his quarry was so strong that he had to curl his hands into fists at his side to keep from doing it.

Logan moved him aside with a firm hand, and Mason suspected that his cousin knew him well enough to know that he was on the verge of barreling through this bitch.

“I’m also your alpha and it’s time that you learned what happens when you cross me. I will give you one chance to make amends. Where is Titus Parr?” The deep, dark thread of authority ran through Logan’s voice, and there would have been no doubt to anyone that heard it of the power within him. It was a power that Logan usually kept contained, but when he decided to use it, it was frightening and awe inspiring at the same time.

The only reaction Elena gave was a slight paling of her face, and she stiffened. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about Titus Parr. I told you that the last time you came through here.”

“If you have nothing to hide, then you won’t mind if we search your house, now will you?” Logan took a step forward and towered over Elena. Every line of his body said that he was giving her no choice, and after a second, she visibly crumbled before him, with her lower lip trembling and her eyes swimming.

“Please, Alpha. Don’t do this.” That was all she said, and Mason had to at least give her credit for not pretending that Titus had forced her into this, or that he was an innocent man.

“Step out of the way, Elena. I’m going to spare you the humiliation of repudiating you in front of your pack, but consider yourself a lone wolf. You may take your purse and what money is in it and that’s it.”

“You’re going to leave me with nothing but the clothes on my back?” Elena’s voice hit a screeching note, and Mason shook his head. The woman didn’t know when to quit while she was ahead. She’d directly disobeyed her alpha when she’d hidden Titus from him. She’d helped participate in the intimidation and harassment of another pack member. Logan was being merciful by not repudiating her in front of the pack, and allowing her to discreetly leave town. Doing it this way would afford her the opportunity to join another pack one day.

“That is what you condemned Grace to when you told her stepfather about her relationship with Mason, and about her baby. We know all of it, and if you don’t move out of my way right now, I will include you in the punishment that is coming to Titus for the murder of that child. So what are you going to choose, Elena?” Elena’s face turned as white as parchment, and she quickly moved aside. “Good choice.”

Logan put his hand on the door knob, and yanked it open. Mason followed him inside and when they walked into the living room he finally got a good look at the piece of shit who’d been stalking his woman for months. Titus showed no surprise when he turned his head to look at them. He sat in the recliner and if Mason didn’t know better, he would swear he was looking at a mild mannered older man relaxing at hime and nursing a beer. The vicious scar bisecting his eye and the equally vicious sneer on his face said something about him that was completely different.

His scent filled Mason’s nostrils and confirmed that he was the wolf who’d been watching the house. He smelled something else too, a sickness inside Titus that told Mason that even if he hadn’t planned on killing him, the cancer that was eating away at his insides would.

“I was wondering when Lavern and Shirley were going to show up. Have to admit that I didn’t think Gracie had it in her. She tell you about our time together?” There was a smirk on Titus’ face as he looked at Mason.

In a flash, the white hot rage that he’d buried inside him ignited, and a growl rumbled deep in his throat. He moved toward Titus, and Logan had to put both arms around him from behind to pull him back.

“Be cool. Don’t let him play you.” Logan’s voice was a low growl in Mason’s ear, and he realized that Titus was doing exactly that, playing him. He shrugged off his cousin’s hold and straightened. Every ounce of will power he possessed went toward keeping the rage inside. He would be killing Titus soon enough but there were formalities that needed to be observed first.

“Titus Parr, as the alpha of Cold Bay and East Brook, it is my duty to sentence you to death for your crimes against Grace Mayer, and for your crimes against my bloodline. Do you dispute the validity of these charges?”

Of all the things Mason expected Titus to do, throwing his head back and laughing from deep in his belly was not something he thought would happen. Once he sobered, he slowly finished the rest of his beer, stood up and smoothed his hands over the stained wife beater he wore.

“Of course I don’t dispute it. I’m not some whimpering whelp from Cold Bay, with my lips still clamped around my mommy’s tit. Let’s get this shit show on the road.”

Mason looked at Logan, and if his cousin was surprised that Titus was cooperating, he didn’t show it. Logan was in alpha mode, and the stone cold look on his face left no trace of the man that Mason had grown up with. Titus marched ahead of them toward the front door, and Logan had his hand clamped firmly around the older man’s upper arm. Once they got out of the house, they saw that Elena had been busy while they were inside the house talking to Titus.

Several of the older male members of the East Brook pack surrounded the house, and Mason came abreast of Logan in case there was trouble. Logan’s voice was strong when he addressed them.

“My lieutenant and I are here to carry out a lawful death sentence, for crimes committed by this man against Cold Bay and East Brook. One member of your pack has already been repudiated. If anyone interferes with us carrying out pack business you will find yourself joining her in her lone wolf status.”

The members of the crowd turned their heads and looked at Elena. The smirk on her face fell away when she saw that the men looking at her did not believe whatever lie she’d told them to get them here. One of them spit at her feet, and she shrank away, as if finally realizing how lucky she was to be able to walk away relatively unscathed. She clutched her purse and turned away, running to where her car was parked beside Logan’s truck.

The men in front of them slowly moved so that they stood in a circle. One of them spoke clearly and loudly for all of them to hear. “We have no intention of interfering with you in your business, now that we know the truth of what that business is. I’m sure you can appreciate that many of us have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and would like to stay as witnesses, just to make sure that it’s finally over.”

Logan nodded and shoved Titus forward into the circle of wolves. They all took a step back, leaving enough room for what was about to unfold.

“My lieutenant, Mason Sawyer, will be carrying out the sentence.” Mason stepped forward and as he went past Logan, his cousin spoke quietly so that only he could hear. “Don’t drag it out.”

Mason knew what his duty was, and while he would have like to have spent hours slowly torturing Titus for the same length of time that he had tortured Grace, this was an execution. It was meant to be a swift rendering of justice, and while it wouldn’t be as satisfying as beating Titus to death, at least he would be ending him and making sure that he never hurt his woman or any other woman again.

In the centre of the circle, Mason squared off against Titus, and the older wolf still wore the same smirk on his face. It was as if nothing heavier than a friendly chat was going to happen.

“Do you have anything you want to say before I carry out your sentence?” It was a formality, one that Mason was required to ask. There was no need for Titus to reply, but that didn’t stop him from doing it.

“I may have been ordered to do what I did, but listening to your woman scream while I raped her was a pleasure, not a duty.”

The picture Titus painted in Mason’s head of Grace at his mercy sent the red haze of rage edging his vision, and a deep roar burst out of him. His hand shot out and went to Titus’ throat. The flesh there was soft, and Mason exerted enough pressure to tear through it. He jerked his hand back and flung a good portion of Titus’ throat aside, where it hit the ground with a wet splat. The smirk was forever frozen on Titus’ face as his body crumpled to the ground and his life’s blood spilled out of his throat and into the earth.

A numbness came over Mason as the rage left him. He felt no elation at the other man’s death, and as he turned around and left the circle he felt nothing as the men surrounding him parted. He went to Logan’s truck and got inside. His duty to his alpha and his woman was done. She would no longer have to live in fear and all he wanted to do now was go home and wash away the evidence of the lengths he’d gone to protect her.

* * *

If asked later how she managed to get through the time that passed since Mason left with Logan, Grace would have no answer. Faith had given up on trying to make conversation with her, and they were watching a movie. Her mind wasn’t on the drama unfolding, and as soon as they heard a truck pull into the driveway Grace shot to her feet. Faith came up beside her, and put her hand on her arm.

“I’ll go now since I’m sure you and Mason want to be alone. Call me if you need anything.” Faith smiled at her as she gave her arm a pat. Grace’s heart was in her throat as she waited for her man to come in the house, so she was unable to answer her. She gave a nod and hugged Faith for a moment as a way of saying thank you.

Faith walked out the door, and left it open behind her. Mason came into the house, and the look on his face was so cold that it looked like it had been carved from stone. His right hand was covered in blood, and splatters of it covered his shirt and part of his face. His eyes were grim when they found hers across the room.

“It’s done.” There was no expression in his voice, and he turned away from her and walked toward the stairs. The sound of his boots on the steps were heavy, and Grace watched after him. She hadn’t known what to expect when he came home, but it was like her Mason had left this house and a stranger had returned.

She heard the sound of the shower running, and knew that she could not keep herself away from him. Something was wrong, and she knew without a doubt that he needed her.

She went quickly up the stairs and took a deep breath as she turned the door knob and walked into the bathroom. Through the glass of the shower door she could see Mason standing under the spray with his hands braced against the wall and his head hung low. With swift movements Grace shed her clothing and opened the shower door.

Mason’s head shot up as he turned to look at her, and Grace finally saw signs of the man she was in love with in his deep blue eyes. The stranger was slowly fading, and she was grateful when he didn’t push her away. She stepped up to him as he turned to face her and she put her arms around his waist. After a moment’s hesitation, Mason pulled her to him and buried his face in her hair. They stood together under the warm beat of water coming from the shower head, with neither of them speaking as they clung to each other.

“Are you okay?” She was the first to speak. They needed to talk about what had happened that night so that they could finally lay the past to rest.

“I didn’t want to come to you downstairs while I was still covered in the taint of his blood and my own violence. I thought that I would feel the same way as I would after carrying out any other duty on behalf of my alpha, but it didn’t feel the same.”

She pressed herself closer as she tipped her head back and looked up at him. “How did it feel?”

“Satisfying. I ripped his throat out and I can’t feel anything but satisfaction over it. I’ve never felt that way before. I’ve fought in the past, have committed violence out of necessity but it wasn’t like that. I’ve never killed anyone before, and I thought I would feel something other than the rightness of it all afterward.”

There was something about Titus that tainted everything he came in contact with, and she knew that what Mason was feeling was a symptom of that special brand of poison that Titus carried inside him. Titus would win unless she said what he needed to hear to jolt him out of the dark place he was moving toward.

“You were doing your duty to your alpha, and you were doing what needed to be done. You did not take the life of an innocent person. What you are feeling is what it is. Titus Parr raped me and he killed our baby. He earned his death sentence, and I want you to put from your mind that you should feel anything about that other than what you are feeling right now. I carried enough guilt over what happened for two lifetimes and I don’t want that for you. So don’t feel guilty for doing what needed to be done or for feeling what you feel.” She moved her hands out from around his back and up around his neck. “The future is wide open now and I can do whatever I want with it. And it’s all thanks to you.”

His arms tightened around her and he dipped his head down so that he could kiss her. His lips moved on her as warm water poured over them. When he drew back, he stroked a finger down her cheek and looked into her eyes.

“Titus was the only dissenter to the pack merger. We don’t need to be bound together anymore for the sake of our packs. I can understand if staying in Cold Bay might be too painful for you considering all that has happened. But I want you to stay with me, not for the sake of our packs, but for mine. I love you Grace, and if you don’t want to be bound to me I’ll understand, but I hope you’ll stay and build a life with me.”

Grace’s lower lip trembled for a moment as she looked up at him. There was a vulnerability in his eyes that she’d never seen before, and he was laying himself bare to her in the hopes that there was more between them than the sum of their past and the need of two wolf packs to band together.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay because a future with you is all I’ve ever wanted. I love you, Mason and I want to build a life with you.”

A look of relief swept over his face and he pulled her to him. “Thank God. I was ready to be noble and let you go if staying wasn’t your choice, but I think it would have killed me to do it.”

He kissed her again, and held her against him until the water started to cool. He reached behind him without breaking contact with her lips and shut off the water. She took a step back and opened the shower door. They stepped out and she reached for a towel. He could only keep his hands from her long enough to dry himself off. The love she had for him flooded her body as he swept her up in his arms and carried her to their bed.

Even a day ago she would not have thought that a love this deep would be possible between them. She’d been so afraid that he would turn from her when he learned her secret, that once he knew, she would have to spend the rest of her life without him. Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes when she looked up at him as he entered her body.

“What’s wrong?” He held himself still above her, and concern carved a line between his eyebrows. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

“Nothing’s wrong. In fact, everything is right. I love you so much.” She moved her hips under him, and soon they were both caught up in the pleasure that they built together. As her release exploded around she heard his fevered exclamations of love as he too found his pleasure in her body.

Once their bodies had calmed, and she nestled against him a feeling of rightness that she had never experienced settled inside her. There were no secrets between them any longer. The past was now behind them where it would no longer hurt them. The future lay ahead of them and she knew that as long as they loved each other there was nothing that they couldn’t handle together.